NAMPA, Idaho - A flurry of shots combined with a slew of saves in the first half was met with more shots in the second as the University of Mary men's soccer team took on #19 Northwest Nazarene University to continue the conference schedule.
 
The Marauders (2-5-1, 1-3-0 GNAC) had a strong defensive showing in the first half against the Crusaders (7-1-1, 3-0-1 GNAC) but were eventually overwhelmed as Northwest Nazarene struck twice in the second half to hand U-Mary their second loss in a row at 2-0.
 
Ramsey Blahnik had the first chance in the match to put the Marauders ahead in the fifth minute but his shot ended up blocked by the Crusader defense and U-Mary had to switch to the defensive half of the pitch almost immediately.
 
The Crusaders started a string of seven shots and five corner kick attempts at the eighth minute of the match as Alex Mitrovic took two by the 10th minute with one sailing wide left and the other being blocked by the Marauders. Ebu Camara took a shot that sailed wide right in the 13th minute and Jaime Verdin had the first corner opportunity three minutes later and the eventually kick had to be saved by Ludvig Rhodin.
 
Northwest Nazarene kept pouring on the shots as Julio Castillo's attempt in the 22nd minute off another corner kick from Verdin was blocked by the Marauder defense, with the follow up form Erik Anderson sailing wide left in the 25th minute. Castillo had another corner attempt in the 26th minute and Abraham Placito was the first to get a foot on the ball but Liam Smallwood ensured the shot would not go in as he made the team save to keep the score at 0-0.
 
The Crusaders took two more corner kick attempts in the 27th minute to no avail and James Liddiard finally broke through the Northwest Nazarene attack with U-Mary's second shot of the match in the 30th minute but was once again blocked by the defense. The Crusaders weren't done on the Marauder's end of the pitch with their sixth corner kick attempt of the half coming in the 34th minute but U-Mary's defense prevailed by not allowing a shot attempt.
 
Christoffer Noguiera had an opportunity to put the Marauders on the board in the 36th minute but his shot ended up sailing wide left and the Crusaders put Rhodin to the test in the final seven minutes as they took five shots and Rhodin ended up making three saves to keep the score at 0-0 heading into the break.
 
The halftime pause didn't do much to slow Northwest Nazarene's attack as they took two more shots in the 47th minute with Rhodin making another save and the other shot traveling high. The Marauder defense eventually wore out in the 50th minute as Luke Broz sent in a cross to Castillo and the ensuing shot went past Rhodin into the net for the first goal of the match.
 
Nogueira had a chance for the equalizer only a few minutes later but his shot went high again, and the Crusaders kept the pressure up with five more shots before notching their second goal of the match in the 68th minute with Castillo stole the ball from the Marauders in midfield and sent a through pass to Erik Anderson who sent a shot past Rhodin to put U-Mary in a 2-0 hole.
 
The Marauders' best shot for a goal first came in the 77th minute when Liddiard fired off a shot with the keeper out of position, but Stephen Davidson was in position to head the shot out of the box to keep U-Mary scoreless. The final chance for the Marauders was in the 82nd minute when Liddiard took another shot, but this time the keeper, Ryan Foo, was in position to make the save and the Marauders left the match empty handed in a 2-0 loss.
 
Liddiard was the only Marauder to have a shot on goal with two as the Marauders were outshot 23-6 on the match, including a difference of 10-2 in shot on goals.
 
U-Mary did make eight combined saves but it wasn't enough as the Crusaders leveraged their 11 corner kicks while the Marauders were held to zero corners.
 
The Marauders will travel to Portland, Ore., on Saturday, October 3, to take on GNAC newcomer Concordia University (Ore.), starting at 6:30 p.m. CDT.
 
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